Folding basket or crate.



PATENTED FEB. 21, 1905.

A. O. HUBBARD. FOLDING BASKET 0R CRATE.

- APPLIOATION FILED JULY 11, 1902.

2 SEEETEF-SHEET 1.

PATENTED FEB. 21, 1905.

A. 0. HUBBARD.

FOLDING BASKET 0R CRATE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 11. 1902.

(It'll011:1:11111111111111111! 'IIIIIIII Patented February 21, 1905,

Urrn STATES PATENT rricn.

ARTHUR O. HUBBARD, OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA.

FOLDING BASKET OR CRATE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N0. 783,274, dated February21, 1905. I

Application filed Iuly 11,1902. Serial No 115,185.

To all whom it WMLZ/ concern:

Be it known that I, ARTHUR O. HUBBARD, of

Minneapolis, I-Iennepin county, Minnesota, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Folding Baskets or Crates, of which the followingis a specification.

The invention relates to baskets or crates designed particularly forshipping articles of merchandise. These baskets are usually folded whenempty so that the swinging parts, such as the top and bottom, are on theoutside of the folded package and in course of transportation by freightor express are frequently torn off and lost, even though apparentlysecurely fastened when shipped. This frequent loss of a cover or bottomnecessitates repairs nearly every time a shipment is made and is asource of constant annoyance and considerable expense to the shipper.

The object, therefore, of my invention is to provide a folding orcollapsible basket or crate which when folded will have no looseswinging or unprotected parts to be torn off and lost in transportation.

A further object is to provide a basket of simple but very strong anddurable construction and one that is capable of withstanding the roughusage to which an article of this kind is usually subjected.

The invention consists generally in a collapsible basket or crate havinga hinged top and bottom and side and end walls provided with verticalpivots, two of said pivots at the diagonally opposite corners of saidbasket being offset from the corner, whereby when the basket is foldedlengthwise a space will be provided between the side and end wallswherein said swinging top and bottom will be suspended and protected.

Further, the invention consists in various constructions andcombinations, all as hereinafter described, and particularly pointed outin the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, Figurel is a plan view of a folding basket or crate embodying my invention,showing the cover closed and partially broken away to expose one of thefastening devices. Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section showing thetop and bottom in their closed position. Fig. 8 is a longitudinal edgeview of the basket when collapsed and ready for return shipment. Figs. 4and 5 are details of the manner of hinging the top and bottom. Fig. 6 isa detail of the sliding bolt for securing the bottom in its closedposition.

In the drawings, 2 and 3 represent, respectively, the ends and sides ofthe basket, which are composed of a series of thin upright slatsconnected at their ends and near the middle on each side by narrow barsor cleats that are nailed securely to the slats. At two of thediagonally opposite corners of the basket I provide the abutting crossbars or cleats with metal clips 4, having loops or eyes 5 to receive thevertical pivot-rods 6 at the corners of the basket and upon which thewalls swing when the basket is being folded or set up. At the other twodiagonally opposite corners I provide vertical bars 7, which are securedto the abutting sides 2 by metal straps 7, having eyes 9, correspondingto those heretofore described with reference to the clips 4, to receivepivotrods similar to those described. The ends 3 have clips at thecorners of the basket near the straps 6 and corresponding to those atthe opposite corners and having eyes or loops to receive the pivot-rodsthat are offset from the corners by the bars 7. The straps 7 extend downover the sides of the basket, both inside and out, a sufficient distanceto protect the corners against injury and securely fasten the bars 7 inposition.

At the bottom of the basket on one side I provide a bracket or car 10 toreceive one end of the rod 11, which passes through U-shaped clips 12,provided on the swinging bottom 18, and enters the bar 7 on the oppositeside of the basket through one of the retaining-straps 7 thereon. Thisrod and the clips form a hinge for the bottom of the basket on one side,and its opposite side is provided with flanged cligs 14:,Wl1i0h overhangthe edge of the bottom and are adapted to engage hooked clips 15, thatare provided on the side wall. The clips 14 and 15 are so arranged thatwhen they engage and interlock the bottom of the basket will besubstantially horizontal and in its proper open position. The plates orclips will prevent further downward movement of the bottom, and I preferto provide a sliding bolt 16, having an end 17 in position to be engagedby the finger to push the bolt into a socket 18 in the wall of thebasket. This bottom is made up of a series of vertical slats andcross-cleats, as described withreference to the ends and sides. Theclips 12 not only form a portion of the hinge for the bottom 13, butalso serve to strengthen the same and bind the slats and cleats firmlytogether. WVhen it is desired to fold the box, the bolt 16 is withdrawnfrom its socket and the bottom raised to a vertical position against theside wall adjoining which it is hinged.

The cover ortop of the box 19 is also made up of a series of verticalslats and cross-cleats and is hinged in a similar manner as describedwith reference to the bottom, except that the bracket or ear at one endof the hinged pivot or rod is longer than the bracket 10 to permit thecover to drop down to a vertical position inside of the bottom whenreleased, as shown clearlyin Fig. 3, and the pivot-rod of the cover isset in from the edge to accommodate it to the greater length of the earor bracket. In other respects the manner of hinging the cover is thesame as that of the bottom. To prevent the cover from dropping down toits folded position prematurely, I provide bolts corresponding to theone provided in the bottom entering sockets in the side wall at the top,and I also provide protecting-plates 21 over these bolts. Between thebolts I provide a lingerhole 22, wherein the finger is inserted to liftthe cover to its horizontal closed position or to raise it to permitaccess to the basket. The ends are provided with suitable handles 23.

To fold the basket, the bolts in the top and bottom are withdrawn, thebottom is raised to a vertical position, and the cover or top allowed todrop down over it. The sides and ends are then collapsed lengthwise ofthe box into the shape shown in Fig. 3, where each side will be in linewith an end, and between the sides and ends so alined a space will beformed to receive the top and bottom, which will be secured at only oneend, but will be inclosed by the walls and prevented from swinging ineither direction, and hence thoroughly protected against injury, andtheir hinges will be between the walls and there will be no projectingor protruding parts that will catch or strike upon other articles duringtransportation. The bars 7 at the ends of the folded package willprevent the walls from being further collapsed and will hold themrigidly against racking or twisting and will form with the walls aregular symmetrical package,which can be placed in a small space andeasily handled.

By inclosing the swinging cover and bottom of the basket I not onlyprevent their swinging and becoming damaged by catching or striking onother articles, but at the same time I am able to dispense with allhooks, straps, or other fastening devices that are usually employed inthe attempt to secure these swinging parts in the crates or baskets asusually constructed and folded.

I claim as my invention 1. A folding basket or crate,comprising side andend walls having vertical corner-hinges to permit each side to be foldedlengthwise in line and in substantially the same plane with an end, twoof the diagonally opposite hinges being composed of bars rigidly securedon one vertical edge to the opposite ends of said side walls at rightangles thereto and their opposite vertical edges beingpivotallyconnected with said end walls whereby an inclosed space will be formedbetween the opposite walls when the basket is folded, and a top and abottom hinged near one of the walls and adapted to hang verticallywithin said space when folded and be protected from injury and preventedfrom swinging by the inclosing walls.

2. In a folding basket or crate, a bar 7 secured to a wall at thecorner, angle plates or brackets provided at the opposite corner on thesame side near the top and bottom respectively, one bracket projectingtoward the middle of the basket beyond the other, and a top and bottomhaving pivots mounted respectively in said brackets and said bar andwhereon said top and bottomare suspended one beside the other when thebasket is folded.

3. In a folding basket or crate, a vertical bar 7 secured to a wall atthe corner, angle plates or brackets provided at the opposite corner onthe same side near the top and bottom, one bracket projecting in towardthe middle of the basket beyond the other, a top and a bottom for saidbasket, each provided with clips 12 and rods 11 passing through saidclips and mounted in said bar and said brackets and whereon said top andbottom swing to a horizontal position when the basket is set up or to avertical position one beside the other when the basket is folded.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 30th day of June,1902.

ARTHUR O. HUBBARD.

In presence of RICHARD PAUL, M. NOONAN.

